Don’t Fail To Live The Gospel Below

We are called to live heaven on earth. We are called to live the future virtues of the Kingdom of God on this earth. Col. 3:1 says, “If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.” When you are seeking things that are above, don’t fail to live it below. Simply put, we are people of the future in Christ Jesus.

In Acts 1:9-11 Jesus is taken out of their sight. He is enthroned and is Lord of All. Then they are told to go to the upper room and wait for the promise of the Father. I love the picture of this whole passage. It is full of the echoes of the past. It is full of the echoes of God’s promises to His people. It echoes the Exodus.

Once Moses was at Mt. Sinai, he ascended; received the law, and then descended to bring it to the people of God. The message was clear-We’re God’s people, and this is how we should live. Moses went up, and Moses came down. In Acts, Jesus went up, and the Holy Spirit came down.

The message is still the same. Jesus is said to have received the Holy Spirit from the Father to pour out. Acts 2:33 reads, “Exalted to the right hand of God, he has received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit and has poured out what you now see and hear.”

The promise of God in the O.T. was to one-day write the law upon the tables of the human heart. That happened on the day of Pentecost to the 120. The Holy Spirit came down and began character transformation on the group, in essence saying-this is how the people of God should live on earth. The future of the Kingdom was brought into the now.

The people of God were launched out into the sea of humanity, to live the charter of the Kingdom now. N.T. Wright says this, “God has started something off in you, in your hearts and minds and lives, and God is going to carry it on until he’s finished the job.”

Never forget, we are the called to be lights in this world. We are called to be salt in this world. Let’s not hide our lights and let’s not allow our salt to go to waste. You have God living on the inside of you today. Get out there and walk the Kingdom, and live the Kingdom.